Here are the airlines that will benefit from Boeing’s 737 Max 8 being grounded by the government after two deadly crashes (LUV, AAL, UAL, SAVE)

• All Boeing 737 Max 8’s have been grounded by US officials after two deadly crashes. 
• The plane only makes up a small percentage of American air travel, but is already causing flight cancellations around the country.
• For competing airlines who fly the same routes with unaffected planes, the grounding could be good news. 

The Boeing 737 Max 8, a plane now grounded in most of the world including the US following two deadly crashes in five months, doesn’t account for much of the US air traffic, but it could still be good news for carriers looking to snap up market share from their competitors’ affected routes.

Spirit is most likely to benefit, as well as Hawaiian, American, and Alaskan, according to calculations by Joseph DeNardi, an analyst at Stifel.

Southwest, American, and United fly the plane in the US, and the forced grounding has already affected some of their routes. Of the competitors that fly the same route but on un-affected planes, Spirit has the most overlap. That’s according to calculations by Joseph DeNardi, an analyst at Sitfel, using Available Seat Miles, or ASMs, a key metric watched by airline investors and analysts.

Stifel

"The data suggests that Southwest’s deployment of the MAX is broad and not concentrated in any particular market which results in Spirit having the most overlap with MAX capacity," DeNardi said in a note to clients Thursday. “As a result, we see SAVE as most likely to gain share as a result of what is likely to be less than planned capacity from LUV for as long as the grounding persists."

Read more: Boeing’s software update to the 737 Max 8 was reportedly delayed more than a month because of the government shutdown

Southwest only launched flights to Hawaii this month. And while the low-cost carrier isn’t running that route with 737 Max 8’s right now, the long-distance version of Southwest’s preferred plane appears to be ripe for the over-ocean route.

"We see Hawaiian as a beneficiary due to (1) likely less capacity from United’s 737 MAXs into Hawaii and (2) a delay in additional growth from Southwest," DeNardi said. "Beyond Spirit and Hawaiian, American and Alaska should benefit due to (1) less capacity in Dallas which is a primary market for the MAX helping American’s growth later this year into DFW and (2) Alaska benefiting from less capacity into Hawaii."

More on the Boeing 737 Max grounding:

• Boeing could get hit with a subpoena over its 2 deadly 737 Max 8 crashes
• Everything we know about Ethiopian Airlines’ deadly crash of a Boeing 737 Max 8, the second disaster involving the plane in 5 months
• Norwegian Air reportedly tells Boeing to ‘take this bill’ after grounding its fleet of 18 Boeing 737 Max planes
• This map shows all the countries to ban the Boeing 737 Max 8, and where airlines have grounded their fleets, after Ethiopian Airlines crash that killed 157
• Elected officials are calling on the US government to ground the Boeing 737 Max 8 after the plane was involved in 2 deadly crashes
• Boeing’s CEO reportedly asked President Trump not to ground the company’s plane that has crashed twice in 5 months
• Pilots complained to authorities about issues with the Boeing 737 Max for months before the deadly Ethiopian Airlines crash
• The US government says it has no reason to ground the Boeing 737 MAX that has crashed twice since October
• These airlines will likely take the biggest hit after the Boeing 737 Max was involved in two deadly crashes
• The Boeing 737 Max has come under fire after 2 deadly crashes in 5 months — but the aircraft is likely to be successful in the long-run, an aviation expert explains
• These airlines will likely take the biggest hit after the Boeing 737 Max was involved in two deadly crashes
• ‘You basically put a student pilot in there’: The copilot of crashed Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 had just 200 hours of flight experience
• Boeing is going to update the control software on the 737 Max that may cause the plane to nosedive
• Boeing has $400 billion in orders on the books, 80% of them are for the 737
• ‘I don’t want Albert Einstein to be my pilot’: Trump says airplanes are becoming ‘too complex to fly’ as the UK, China, and other nations ground the Boeing 737 Max 8
• These are the victims of the Boeing 737 Max 8 crash in Ethiopia
• The family of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 captain speaks out after crash that killed 157 people
• A Georgetown University law student who reportedly expressed a fear of flying is among the 157 dead in the Ethiopian Airlines crash
• The black box from the crashed Ethiopian Airlines flight has been found
• An Ethiopian Airlines passenger said he missed the crashed flight by 2 minutes: ‘I’m grateful to be alive’
• People of 35 different nationalities were killed in the Ethiopian Airlines crash, including 8 Americans

NOW WATCH: Why Tesla’s Model X was the first SUV to receive a perfect crash-test rating

See Also:

• Boeing’s software update to the 737 Max 8 was reportedly delayed more than a month because of the government shutdown
• Trump announces all Boeing 737 Max jets are immediately grounded following its 2nd crash in 5 months
• Southwest is waiving fees for passengers who want to avoid flying on the Boeing 737 Max 8

SEE ALSO: Everything we know about Ethiopian Airlines’ deadly crash of a Boeing 737 Max 8, the second disaster involving the plane in 5 months

Source: Business Insider – grapier@businessinsider.com (Graham Rapier)